(Adds Housing Authority's reaction)
Government flats in Sta Lucija were in a dilapidated and abandoned state, mayor Frederick Cutajar this morning told a news conference.
Mr Cutajar said that last year, the government closed down the Housing and Maintenance Construction Department, which had been focused on the upkeep and maintenance of such flats. Its workers were relocated as a system which used to work efficiently was dismantled.
Residents, he said, used to file a report at the council, which this then passed on to this department.
However, now that this no longer existed, residents had to personally file a report at the Housing Authority in Floriana or call a government number. This number was either not answered or answered after a very long wait.
Residents, he said, were sometimes asked for €20 to register under a scheme to have something repaired.
Mr Cutajar took the media round one particular block which had graffitti all over the place, a pitch black letter box room pitch with a broken switch that had never been repaired and bumpy ground. He said that there was a lot of neglect in these houses especially in common areas.
The mayor pointed out that although many of the blocks had lifts, these were not installed because of disagreements between residents. The Condominium Act, he said, was not being implemented.
Labour Party spokesman Roderick Galdes said the PL not happy with situation.
The apartments were capital assets that should not be left abandoned and the government should take track of situation.
PL spokesman Stefan Buontempo said that the promised one-stop shop for councils to help them deal with such matters did not materialise.
He said that the PL would be organising training courses for its councillors on how to deal with housing problems. If the government did not give councils the tools to work with, the PL would, he said.
HOUSING AUTHORITY’S REACTION
In a reaction, the Housing Authority said that the work previously undertaken by the Housing and Maintenance Construction Department has now been taken over directly by the Housing Authority.
Tenants of government dwellings and councils where such dwellings were situated could contact the authority to lodge requests for repairs in common areas of block of apartments and they could do this free of charge.
The mayor himself admitted that many problems in the area were caused because of disagreements between residents and was well aware that maintenance works in common areas were the responsibility of the tenants, it said adding that it was also not responsible for vandalism.
Local councils, the authority said, can also contact it to report any repairs in common areas of government housing blocks in their locality.
When such reports were recieved, these were followed up by technical personnel and classified according to urgency.
The authority said it was issuing a number of tenders to meet such requests particularly for urgent structural works, drainage related problems, repairs in electrical systems. A programme of works on the façade of housing blocks was also being prepared.
The authority said it was promoting the development of Residents’ Associations in housing blocks which would be responsible for the maintenance of common areas.
This was being carried out particularly where lifts were installed.